#567

 Fun Fact #567

The Sword Whip 

When it comes to Silambam there are many tools in their arsenal. One of the more interesting is The Firestaff which were Silambam (bamboo Staffs) with a cup at the top to allow them to launch Flaming balls of cloth while still defending at close range. There is also a later variant –which can still be seen at public demonstrations– containing the flaming cloth inside an iron cage connected by a chain to the staff to create a sort of Flaming Mace which could be whipped around at speed. It proved impractical in combat which is why it saw little use until Tourism really took root in India. 

However one tool That did catch on was The Urumi better known as “The Sword Whip”. Urumi are swords with anywhere from 3-32 long flexible blades intended for the operator to swing around to create distance between you and multiple opponents while still allowing you to strike back. The Way a Urumi works is actually pretty cool as requires less strength than a Roman Flail to use thanks to the weight of the blades allowing the operator to build up momentum. To do this effectively the operator needed to learn how to follow and guide the sword’s natural momentum so the blades would strike correctly, and not swing around to cut the operator. Because of this, only the most highly advanced Silambam are even allowed to wield an Urumi, often wrapping 2 of them around their waist when not in use (Their Silver Belt). 

As for combating them, the answer is simple as it's what led to The Original Fall of Silambam –namely that Urumi don’t work in close quarters as there’s just not enough room to build up momentum. Today Urumi are fairly rare, but still tend to pop up every so often in pop culture such as the Hit Game Elden Ring where the Urumi is an In-Game weapon whose attacks cannot be parried, or The Manga Demon Slayer where its the weapon of choice for the character Kanroji Mitsuri.

As always thanks for reading and please have a wonderful day.